Rishabh Pant gets maiden call; Shami back for first 3 England Tests
New Delhi, July 18 : Explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was on Wednesday picked as the second choice stumper as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recalled pacer Mohammed Shami in the 18-member squad for the first three Tests of the five-match rubber against England.
Pant was rewarded with the Test call-up following a successful run with the willow in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Shami, who was dropped from the lone Test match against Afghanistan for failing a fitness test, made his way back to the team after clearing the mandatory yo-yo test. Middle-order batsman Karun Nair has also been re-called to the squad while Rohit Sharma failed to make it.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who is recuperating from a thumb injury, has been included in the squad, but will be available for selection from the second Test onwards based on his fitness, a BCCI statement confirmed.
Meanwhile, fellow paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar has his back injury after featuring in the third One-day International (ODI) against England on Tuesday and was left out of the first three Tests.
"Bhuvneshwar Kumar aggrevated a lower back condition in the third ODI against England. His condition is being assessed by the BCCI medical team and a call on his inclusion in the Test squad will be made soon," the board said.
India's squad for first three Tests against England: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.
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Pal to visit Hubballi & Vijayapura to interact with farmers affected by Waqf Board action: BJP MP
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Tuesday said the Chairperson of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Jagdambika Pal will visit Hubballi and Vijayapura in Karnataka on November 7 to interact with farmers allegedly affected by Waqf Board's "predatory action".
The response came days after Surya had requested Pal to invite farmers from Vijayapura district as witnesses to discuss their land disputes with the Waqf Board.
"Chairman of JPC on Waqf has kindly consented to my request to visit Hubli (Hubballi) and Bijapur (Vijayapura) on 7th November to interact with farmers affected by the Waqf’s predatory action. Chairman will interact with farmer organisations, Mutts and petitions given to him will be placed before JPC," the Bengaluru South MP, who is a member of the Committee, said.
In a October 29 letter, Surya highlighted about his recent meeting with a delegation of farmers from Vijayapura district and other areas in the vicinity and had requested Pal to visit the affected regions in Karnataka to receive complaints and grievances and also have a public hearing with the farmers adversely impacted by the Waqf Board's action.
"These farmers, who have cultivated their lands for nearly a century, maintain records dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. In recent months, however, many of them have been served notices declaring their lands as Waqf property, without any accompanying evidence or explanation. The scale of these claims is substantial, with nearly 1,500 acres being designated as Waqf property in their village alone," he alleged in his letter to Pal.
According to him, the farmers claimed that apart from being served notices, changes have been made in the RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops), 'pahani' and mutation registers for some of the land parcels without following the due process of law.
Following allegations by a section of farmers from Vijayapura district that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, Karnataka Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah has said that none of them will be evicted, and notices issued to them will be withdrawn.
